For the second straight year, Craig Counsell is not the NL Manager of the Year. Last year, Brian Snitker won it for reviving the Atlanta Braves. This year, Mike Schildt of the St. Louis Cardinals won the award from Counsell. He did not have the most first-place votes as that belongs to Counsell, but Schildt had the most cumulative votes. Counsell is beginning to feel like the Susan Lucci of managers. Do people not understand what Counsell does as a manager or is it a small-market issue?

Counsell having the most first-place votes tells me the guys who vote on this award understand what they’re talking about. Most people thought that Counsell deserved the manager of the year award. But those who did not understand what Counsell did with the Brewers, they left him off their list. Is that due to people not paying attention to the Brewers’ on a day-to-day basis? Probably. Some writers live in their bubble and ignore what’s going on around them.

He does a great job with Milwaukee’s roster from top to bottom. Counsell is a mad scientist. He does so many cool things with the roster. Do you know how a baseball manager is good? People do not bitch about him regularly. Blaming managers is a thing to do in baseball and coaches in basketball. This doesn’t happen with Counsell. He is the only manager in Brewers history to have three straight years with 85+ wins. If Brewers make the playoffs in 2020, Counsell will be the first manager to lead Milwaukee to three straight playoff appearances. He is doing things unheard with the Brewers.

This quote from Counsell from the Journal Sentinel is all that matters though…

“The award I’d like to be presented with is the one Dave Martinez was presented with,” Counsell said. “That’s what you’re doing it for. I’m not trying to diminish Mike Shildt’s award, by any means. I don’t want it to come off like that. But if you ask me what’s important, (the World Series trophy) is what’s important.”